Episodes

  • Nicole Adrien, Chief Product Officer & Global Head of Client Relations – Oaktree Capital Management (EP.33)

    Nicole Adrien, Chief Product Officer & Global Head of Client Relations – Oaktree Capital Management (EP.33)
    Jul 2 2024
    Nicole Adrien is the Chief Product Officer and Global Head of Client Relations at Oaktree Capital. If you work directly with clients and prospects, this is the conversation for you. Nicole discusses her career path beginnings at Goldman Sachs, and how she turned a summer internship during business school into a career at Oaktree. Working with clients today is all about transparency, speed, and accuracy. We discuss how exogenous factors from the GFC have shaped client demands and how Oaktree transformed its business to meet these new requirements. We discuss the continuous demand of portfolio and company information and the “multiplier effect” from the increasing level of sophistication within the industry. We close with how Oaktree builds new products today, what a good prospect meeting looks like, and how Oaktree hires and instills culture and values. It's worth noting - this year, Nicole was named to 50/50 Women on Boards’ second annual 50 Women to Watch for Boards list, which highlights exceptionally qualified women leaders from various sectors across North America. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    44 mins
  • Taimur Hyat, COO – PGIM (EP.32)

    Taimur Hyat, COO – PGIM (EP.32)
    Jun 18 2024
    Taimur Hyat is the Chief Operating Officer for PGIM. PGIM manages over 1.3 trillion in equity, fixed income, real estate, alternatives, and multi-asset solutions. Being a “strategic COO” is the wave of the future, and Taimur provides some great insight on how he does it. He shares his evolution from doing development economic research to consulting at McKinsey before landing in asset management with stints at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse Asset Management. Taimur shares his thoughts on understanding the moving parts of the big picture being just as important as the “hard ops” that happen on the front lines. PGIM’s size and scale creates an opportunity to uncover around-the-corner ideas they call MegaTrends. Taimur shares the importance of how different cultures, markets and regulators work together and what it takes to bring a global mindset to your work. There is a lot here on what it takes to be “COO version 2.0” so take a listen. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    49 mins
  • Hank Boughner, CEO – Dynamo Software (EP.31)

    Hank Boughner, CEO – Dynamo Software (EP.31)
    Jun 13 2024
    This Sponsored Insight features Hank Boughner, the CEO of Dynamo Software – an end-to-end platform for the alternative investment industry. Hank has been the CEO of Dynamo Software since 2017. His unique career path as an engineer, investment banker, and private equity investor gives him a unique perspective on what the future holds for investment technology. Hank shares his insights on why software verticals are consolidating, single point versus platform solutions, and why he believes that platforms will win over time. We also discuss the importance of brand awareness, advice on user adoption, and his thoughts on the implications for incumbents versus new entrants with M&A activity. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    46 mins
  • Darshan Desai, COO – Beach Point Capital Management (EP.30)

    Darshan Desai, COO – Beach Point Capital Management (EP.30)
    Jun 4 2024
    Darshan Desai is the COO and Head of Risk at Beach Point Capital, a $15 billion credit shop based in Santa Monica, CA. Darshan and I discuss his career path, which began at York Capital, his move to Kansas City to works for BATS, and then finding his way to Beach Point in 2010. Darshan shares his experience and learnings from seeing two firms ramp up assets and people. I was curious to speak to Darshan as he is also the Head of Risk, making for a unique opportunity to talk about data/analytics, how to be a risk-oriented COO, and why they outsourced their entire middle office. We close with the importance of IQ and EQ when building teams and how Covid changed the way he manages others. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    48 mins
  • Amy Knapp, COO – Corsair Capital (EP.29)

    Amy Knapp, COO – Corsair Capital (EP.29)
    May 21 2024
    Amy Knapp is the COO of Corsair Capital, a private equity firm that is focused on buyouts and infrastructure. When we started the podcast, the goal was to share best practices among investment operations professionals, and my conversation with Amy fires on all cylinders. Amy discusses her career path from public accounting to an unexpected opportunity to be a CFO early in her career, eventually becoming the COO. We then cover an array of topics from the operational challenges with having multiple strategies, a deep dive on ESG/DEI, and how to make the shift from being a controller to a strategic CFO/COO. The team at Corsair practices what they preach, so there are some great take-aways. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    37 mins
  • Nasdaq Solovis at Verger Capital (EP.28)

    Nasdaq Solovis at Verger Capital (EP.28)
    May 16 2024
    This Sponsored Insight highlights Nasdaq’s Solovis, a multi-asset class portfolio, data, and risk management system for asset owners. We spoke with Jeff Manning of Verger Capital Management, a $2.8 billion OCIO that was created out of the Wake Forest University Office of Investments. Verger’s CIO, Jim Dunn, was an early guest on Capital Allocators, and that conversation is replayed in the feed. Jeff oversees all financial operations at Verger including the team, reporting, and strategic decisions. He provides a detailed case study on how Verger enhanced its operational capabilities as it scaled and how a partnership with Solovis helped drive efficiency. We are grateful for Nasdaq Solovis’s sponsorship of Investment Management Operations and are eager to highlight their contributions to the asset owner community. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    34 mins
  • [REPLAY] Jim Dunn – Protect, Perform, Provide (Capital Allocators, EP.24)

    [REPLAY] Jim Dunn – Protect, Perform, Provide (Capital Allocators, EP.24)
    May 16 2024
    Jim Dunn is the CEO and CIO of Verger Capital Management, an Outsourced CIO business whose anchor client is Wake Forest University. Prior to forming Verger, he served as CIO of Wake Forest for five years. That transition from a sole client to an OCIO business, is a fascinating part of our conversation. Before joining Wake, Jim traveled the world as CIO of Wilshire Associates, where among other things he experienced the best story of a manager getting their foot in the door that I’ve ever heard. He got his start in the business trading death spiral convertible bonds at a now defunct hedge fund and got introduced to manager selection at Investorforce. Our conversation starts with Jim’s career path, and covers a full range issues in allocating capital. We discuss defining risk tolerance, a factor-based approach to asset allocation, separating talent from luck in manager selection, the politics of endowment management, challenges using internal management, and culture. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear a few one-liners. Jim is chock full of gems and life lessons. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Karl Sprules, COO – AllianceBernstein (EP.27)

    Karl Sprules, COO – AllianceBernstein (EP.27)
    May 7 2024
    Karl Sprules is the COO at Alliance Bernstein, a global asset manager with $725 billion in assets and over 4,700 employees. I really enjoyed speaking with Karl as he shows how you can be nimble at scale. We cover a lot of territory from his beginnings at Alliance Capital in the technology group, navigating the merger that created AB, and his evolution into the COO seat. Karl shares how AB has evolved over time and the rationale behind the bold decision to move their headquarters from Manhattan to Nashville creating a new investment management hub and recalibrating work life balance for many people. We then turned to how AB is expanding into Asia, India, and their current thoughts on AI. Learn More Follow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access transcript with Premium Membership
    Show more Show less
    46 mins